“I can’t believe it’s really you, Artyom!” exclaimed Sae as he looked upon the half-asian man who returned an uncomfortable gaze. “Even if you look so different. But you still have that same intensity around you that there was no way I could’ve missed!”

“Uh, yeah,” stammered Artyom. He could face down the most horrific monsters without hesitation, but uncomfortable social interactions always reduced him to an awkward mess. First with Neitra’s original demands of proof after he slayed the winged serpent, and now with meeting someone whom he parted ways with less than amicably not so long ago.

“I’m sorry, how do you two know each other?” asked Neitra, still clasping her knife in a backwards grip.

“So is this your girlfriend?” asked Sae. “I don’t see what she has that Skeya doesn’t.”

Another pang went through Artyom’s stomach. Willpower alone prevented it from appearing on his face. Neitra on the other hand only looked annoyed at the comment.

“But anyway, Artyom and my party met each other about a week ago in a small village next to Eastgate,” continued Sae. “We’d come from Brimhaven, but I don’t know where he came from…”

Neitra looked at him with a raised eyebrow, prompting him back on topic.

“Oh, right! He met us and helped us kill some rats and asked to join our group. Then he saved all of our butts against a Bog Walker! You should’ve seen him, he was zooming all around it and grabbed Skeya and ran out of there before it could even think about giving us chase!”

Neitra, lacking much of the context needed to get the full picture, decided to just allow Sae to continue. He had to say something relevant soon.

“...so then we were able to kill the thing after he showed us how to work together properly! And when we got back to the village, the Dark Lo- sorry, the Sworn Enemy’s army had come through and burned the place to the ground!”

That got Neitra’s attention. She looked at Artyom to see his expression, but was met with a stone-cold wall that wasn’t far off from the town’s.

“Anyway, we were all ready to charge after the Sworn Enemy, but Artyom here convinced us all to stay back and help the townsfolk. If it weren’t for him, some of them might be dead, left buried under broken houses, or without food and shelter!”

Neitra saw Artyom’s blank face soften, some of his guilt eroding away at the telling of his good deed. But it hadn’t crumbled completely, something was still eating at him.

“But then before we started escorting the villagers to Eastgate, Artyom said he had something important to take care of and left,” said Sae, with much less enthusiasm. Artyom’s expression hardened again. “If I’d known what for, I would’ve asked if we could come along, haha. So now that you’re here, why don’t you come meet the rest of us? I’m sure they’d like to talk to you after you up and disappeared on us back then.”

Neitra’s eyes widened in an unpleasant realization. Here was a man who Artyom had abandoned, like she thought he might do with their quest against the Dark Lord. Sickening hypotheticals raced through her mind, forcing her to re-evaluate his character once more. But kindness and her actual experiences with him won out, and made her consider if he had changed since then. Behind his stone wall, she knew he was hiding guilt, but how much really?

Artyom opened his mouth slightly as he tried to think of a response to Sae’s offer. “Um, it’s really nice to meet you here, but we actually have some more important business to take care of, and all that. I’m sure we’ll see each other around.”

He quickly turned around and began to briskly walk away, forcing Neitra to double take at his response. She quickly pocketed her knife and ran after him as Sae still stood there, too overcome with shock and sullenness to do anything.

“What are you doing?” asked Neitra in a quiet snarl, now by Artyom’s side.

“We don’t need someone who knows either of our identities to know we’re here,” replied Artyom, gazing straight ahead with a strenuous look about him. “He might blab to the wrong person and have the goddess sic more of her goons at us. We can’t take that risk.”

“Artyom, stop right there,” replied Neitra, raising her voice and staring right into his eyes. If Artyom truly had turned over a new leaf, and truly felt guilt from abandoning those who needed him, he wouldn’t push away a chance at redemption. Especially one being handed to him on a silver platter. Sure, Neitra didn’t know the whole story, and maybe he did have a legitimate reason to abandon them. But the fact of the matter was, he just didn’t seem to care. And who’s to say he wouldn’t do the same to the Kingdom or her?

Neitra’s gaze imparted the full scope of her thoughts, and Artyom truly understood exactly what she was feeling. He was going to walk back and accept Sae’s offer. He was going to meet with the rest of his old party and apologize. He was going to fulfil his obligations and redeem himself. To both his old party and Neitra.

“You can show me the proof after,” she finished, in a soft yet solid voice. “I think this is more important.” In proving you can be trusted.

Artyom looked back at her, the steely facade finally melting into a withered look. A very tired look. “Alright.” With that one word, he mustered his courage with a sharp breath, and began walking back.

Sae looked up at Artyom upon his return, hope, confusion, and fear now added to the original quagmire of emotions he was enveloped by.

“You know what Sae, I’d love to meet everyone and catch up!” exclaimed Artyom behind a painful, yet veritable smile.

Sae similarly lit up with his own grin. “That’s great! Everyone’s going to love to see you again!” He grabbed Artyom’s wrist and began dragging him down the street, towards where the procession had come from. Artyom didn’t do much to resist, and went alongside his former team captain with Neitra trailing right behind them, holding her own light smirk.

“So, I’ve got to ask,” said Artyom, now feeling comfortable enough to pose questions. “What are you doing here of all places? It doesn’t look like you’re in the army, seeing as you’re still in your adventurer clothes.”

“We actually have you to thank for it,” replied Sae.

“Me?” asked Artyom incredulously, beginning to feel a thread of tension pulse through him at the thought that he sent them on a suicide run against the Dark Lord.

“Yeah!” he exclaimed back cheerfully. “After your speech back in Freeacres about doing what would help people out the most, we ended up taking that idea to heart. So after we brought the villagers to safety, we decided to continue doing whatever would help the most people against the Sworn Enemy since it’s what we ought to do. And the place that needed the most help was here, Ironheart Fortress!”

“Huh, I didn’t think I’d have that kind of an effect on you all,” replied Artyom, mollified yet now feeling introspective at how a throwaway line had such an impact. Sae seemed so cheerful at meeting him, maybe all of his feelings about the situation were overblown and everything was fine? He should get this reunion over with so that he could finally end this hellish day…

“We didn’t think it would either, but we knew we made the right decision when you did the same! I mean, joining the hero’s party is definitely the best use of your talents!”

Well, perhaps not. Artyom and Neitra shared a look. They didn’t need to say anything to get across their concern at that knowledge now being out in the open. Luckily, nobody was around to hear his last line, and Artyom posed another question, hoping to change the subject.

“So what does your team do around here? The place is full of high-leveled soldiers, so there probably isn’t much you can do that they can’t, no offense.”

“None taken!” replied Sae. “It’s funny, actually. Because everyone around here is so powerful, a lot of non-urgent tasks go undone. Cats stuck in trees, weak monsters prowling the surrounding lands, and little things the townsfolk need help with are usually ignored so a lot of people end up suffering as a result. And we end up taking those jobs!”

Artyom nodded in appreciation, not that Sae could see him while so focused on making his way through the streets. Sae had gone through quite a change in one week, the happy-go-lucky adventurer still acting mostly the same, but now more focused on the bigger picture.

“So, the Great Hero. What’s he like?” asked Sae, turning the conversation back towards the dreaded subject.

“Actually,” replied Neitra, speaking up in a soft whisper for the first time during the conversation. “We’re on a secret mission from him right now, and nobody’s actually supposed to know we’re here. So can we talk about all of that in private?”

“Oh, alright!” exclaimed Sae, unaware of the weight of the knowledge he held. “The adventurer’s guild should have some private rooms we can talk about that in. Pireni should be working there right now, in fact!”

As he finished the statement, the group arrived at a two storey building featuring a signpost with a pair of crossed swords. The adventurer’s guild. Sae pulled Artyom through its saloon-style doors and immediately waved at a woman standing behind one of the counters.

The adventurer’s guild was a sizable building on the inside, with hardwood floors spotted with large rugs and tables, and a ceiling that rose all the way to the second floor. A staircase behind the building-width counters towards the back led to an indoor balcony that stretched across the perimeter of the guild, dotted with doors leading to smaller rooms behind closed doors.

Sitting at one of the counters was a familiar young lady, with brown hair now let loose instead of tied in the bun he last saw her in. She wore the same green leather armor as well, with a wooden bow and quiver strapped to her back.

“So a Rock Crab, huh? Those things can be nasty!” she said to another group of armed adventurers in front of her counter after turning her attention back towards them. “[Recall Monster] tells me that they look a lot like the rocks you can find in the area, but the size of small boulders. If you keep your eyes peeled for anything gray larger than a small dog that seems to move around when you’re not immediately looking at it, that’s probably what you’re looking for.”

The group nodded and gave their thanks, before walking past Artyom and departing the building.

“Artyom! I can’t believe it’s you!” shouted Pireni, making her way from behind the counter towards the trio. She threw herself onto Artyom in a bear hug, stunning him by the sheer surprise of her reaction. After releasing him from her full-body grip, she sized him up and frowned at his face. “You look really different, way too much for just a single week.”

“I think he’s in disguise because of his ‘secret mission’,” replied Sae, in a terribly conspicuous whisper. “Do you have a private room we could all talk in?”

“Oh, sure!” said Pireni. She turned her head towards the other occupied counter and shouted at the person manning it. “Hey Reen, I’m taking 10. Can you cover for me?”

The man returned a thumbs up, too busy with another group of his own to verbally respond.

“Alright, follow me.”

Pireni led the trio behind the counter and up the stairs, towards the second closest door. She opened it and motioned the others inside, shutting and locking it once they were all seated around a medium-sized table.

“So what’s this about a secret mission?” she asked, looking at Artyom with mirthful suspicion.

“These two said they’re here on a secret mission for the Great Hero, and nobody’s supposed to know about them being here!” exclaimed Sae.

“And you announced it while out in the lobby, in front of everyone there?” asked Pireni, her face morphing into a show of incredulity. “Seriously Sae, you can be an idiot sometimes.”

“Argh!” he groaned in reply. “You’re right, I can’t believe I did that. Sorry, Artyom.”

“Uh, that’s fine,” he replied.

“So, speaking of your ‘secret mission’, who’s this? Your new girlfriend? I’m Pireni by the way, the team’s [Ranger],” she said, extending a hand towards Neitra.

“I’m Neitra, my team’s [Rogue],” she replied, returning the gesture with a half-awkward smile. “And I’m not his girlfriend. We’re just companions.”

“A [Rogue], huh?” rhetorically asked Pireni. “So I guess that makes two of you, then. Why would the hero need two rogues?”

“Rogue?” asked Neitra, confused. “Artyom’s a spellcaster, I’ve seen him do nothing but cast spells, and punch things.”

“When we met him, the first thing he did was make poison out of a bunch of green potatoes to help us kill some rats. Nobody else who’d come to exterminate them had been able to keep them gone for good, so he told us to use it against them.”

“Oh,” replied Neitra, captivated by the story. “So were you able to get rid of the rats for good?”

“I don’t know about that, but when the Sworn Enemy came along and burned Ruba’s inn to the ground, they probably finished off any stragglers for good. So we’ll never know!” she said with a cold laugh. Pireni settled down and continued. “Sorry, it was a pretty bad time for us. But we were able to save everyone we could, so we should be able to laugh now. It’s the best medicine after all, Artyom showed me that.”

Neitra looked over to Artyom to see his reaction. He looked uncomfortable at the mention of the town being burned down, but not as much as before, especially after Pireni’s little dark joke. Still, he remained silent and didn’t try to add to the conversation. In order to keep it going, mainly out of sheer interest in this new group, Neitra decided to continue it herself. “So Sae tells me you’ve been doing a lot of small tasks here and there that nobody else has the time to take care of.”

“That’s right!” replied Pireni. “Last week, we were actually hired to get rid of even more rats that were infesting an inn, just like in Freeacres! We took Artyom’s advice and bought some poison from a rogue this time, and no complaints yet!”

“Oh, cool. You two don’t seem to be doing any adventuring today, do you also work at the guild itself?” asked Neitra.

“Oh yeah, we decided to take the time to do more than just adventuring to help out,” replied Pireni. “On our days off, we like to volunteer to help out however we can beyond just killing or finding something. I help out other new adventurers who don’t have [Rangers] by using my monster information Skill to make sure they’re well prepared.”

“And I help out with the parades!” added Sae. “Apparently, guiding crowds is supposed to be good for leveling leadership, so that doesn’t hurt either.”

“Yeah, the experience bonus lets us kill two birds with one stone!” said Pireni. “And Skeya’s volunteering at one of the local churches, healing people who aren’t injured severely enough for the army hospital.”

“That’s really practical,” observed Neitra. “Practicing your Skills and sneaking training into your days off like that.”

“It is,” replied Pireni, looking wistful. “But truth be told, we mostly do it to help out. We just feel like we should give back, you know?”

“Yeah, I can understand,” said Neitra in a similar tone. “I only joined the Great Hero because I felt obligated to the Kingdom that’s taken care of me and my dad.”

“And I guess that’s why you left us too, huh Artyom?” asked Sae, interrupting the moment.

“Yeah,” he replied softly, looking down at the table. The statement was entirely true. Artyom had left to find the boy from Earth and rescue him from whatever danger he might’ve been in. That was his obligation, his duty as a member of TOAL. And for that reason, he knew he was at no fault for his decision to abandon his old team, and even their currently cheery demeanors should be obvious of that. But then why did he still feel so terrible about it?

“Hey Artyom, what’s wrong?” asked Pireni, finally catching on to his dour mood.

“Pireni, Sae,” he began. Artyom swallowed a dry gulp of air and sighed. “Are you all… mad at me?”

All of the guilt Artyom had been feeling towards them finally surfaced, breaking free of the mental chains he’d tried to restrain them with until now. They screamed disgusting, terrible things in his mind, horrible things to him, filling his ears with rings of accusations and denouncements, not all of them necessarily accurate or true. In complete contrast, the room around him remained deathly still as everyone stared at him in contemplative silence.

Pireni was the first to break the aural vacuum, looking deep into Artyom’s eyes as she did. “To be honest, we were at first. You leaving us like that really hurt, and we wanted to be angry. But whenever we talked about it, we couldn’t help but remember how much you’d helped us until then.”

“She’s right,” added Sae in a similarly somber tone. “We wanted to think of you as a bad guy, but you’re not. You helped us, and the villagers, out so much. You saved lives because it was the right thing to do, you’re a good guy.”

Artyom looked at the two in silence, his eyes growing misty for the first time in what felt like years. His mouth curved into the faintest smile as he nodded in acceptance of his absolution.

“But we are still mad about how you treated Skeya,” interjected Pireni with a frown. “I can understand you rejecting her, but she says you were really mean to her about it, and you need to apologize.”

And like that, Artyom’s smile froze and the words of guilt began to return. “I know. And I’m really sorry for how I treated you and her. I could’ve been much more diplomatic,” he finally sputtered out.

“And we forgive you for running away now that you apologized,” said Pireni, her frown softening but arms now crossed. “But you still need to apologize to Skeya for how you treated her. Come on, let’s go find her now.”

Despite the provisory statement, relief once again flooded through Artyom. As it did, he internally chuckled at himself at how a small-time group such as this got him so worked up in the first place. The laughs died down as he realized the truth. He cared about them.

The rest of the group rose from their seats, following Pireni’s lead, as they made their way to the door back outside. Artyom got up and followed them as he processed his thoughts. The group exited the adventurer’s guild and made their way through several more streets.

Eventually, Neitra spoke up in a barely audible whisper and snapped Artyom out of his thoughts once more. “Hey Artyom, didn’t Pireni say that this Skeya is volunteering at a church?”

“Yeah, what about-” Artyom paused mid-sentence as the obvious finally hit him. “We don’t want to go anywhere near one.”

“Huh, church?” asked Sae, picking up a few of the words from their conversation. “Skeya’s usually on break around now and should be at the café.”

The duo sighed, Sae ignoring the implications of the gesture. While their destination brought some relief, they weren’t out of the woods yet.

“Hold on,” said Artyom, dropping his whisper even lower and placing an impromptu sound ward between him and his old party members in front. “I remember during my first day here, Skeya said she would pray for guidance on why I don’t have any levels.”

“That doesn’t sound so bad,” replied Neitra. “It’s kind of sweet, actually.”

“It was. But the problem is, she got an answer. If she includes me in her prayers, then the goddess will know we’re still alive and hiding here!”

Neitra’s eyes widened. “That’s bad. We have to convince her to not include you in her prayers, then.”

“Or we could skip town?” he hopefully opined.

Neitra responded to his question with a glare, her original answer from earlier still the same.

Artyom was ready to just leave, but his bleeding heart dragged him forwards. “Fine,” he finally grumbled. “But I’m going to rig our room with traps and explosives up the wazoo in case we get attacked tonight. As for Skeya, I’ll try to think something up based on what I know about the goddess.”

“Mmh,” nodded Neitra in affirmation as Artyom removed the ward.

They walked in silence for the next few minutes, thinking about what they could say to hide themselves. Anything to distract him from the meeting.

Eventually, the group arrived at a homely looking cafe, several tables arranged at its front underneath a large striped canvas canopy. There were several patrons seated sparsely around the area, but one table in particular grabbed Artyom’s attention. There sat a young man with black hair chatting away with a girl with contrasting deep red locks, laughing over a pair of hot drinks.

Artyom froze when he finally saw her. He pinched himself on the leg to snap himself out of it, once again chiding himself for such a reaction as the Captain of the Terran Defense League. He’d faced down assassins and abominations against nature without flinching, but hurting a girl’s feelings was making him feel this way?

Sae called to them, and as soon as the two patrons looked back, the woman began to wave at the group animatedly. As soon as she saw Artyom, her gesture slowed to a standstill. Pireni and Sae began to walk towards them, pulling chairs from the nearby tables and facing them towards the other two, before taking a seat. Artyom and Neitra stood in place as the others gestured to a pair of free seats.

“You know, your disguise doesn’t seem to be as good as you thought it would be,” whispered Neitra. “Right now, we’re at three for three with people still recognizing you.”

“Yeah, you might be right,” replied Artyom. “But it was only meant for people who don’t actually know us and are working by sketch or picture. Not people who consider you one of their best friends.”

She nodded and they both made their way to the others. Neitra took a quiet, gentle seat while Artyom’s chair seemed to sonorously creak as he attempted to nonchalantly ease himself into it.

“Guess who we just met, Skeya?” asked Sae, much too exuberantly for the mood at the table. He looked between the others expectantly, wondering what kind of exciting reaction their dour faces would morph into.

“Hey Skeya,” said Artyom.

“Hi Artyom,” replied Skeya.

Everyone stayed silent as Artyom and the girl made eye contact, each sizing the other up. Eventually the stillness was broken as Skeya opened her mouth to speak.

“Artyom-”

“I’m sorry for how I treated you back in Freeacres,” he blurted out. “I wasn’t interested in a relationship with you and could’ve been a lot nicer about it. I hope you’ll find it in your heart to forgive me.”

Once again, an uncomfortable silence descended upon the table. Skeya brushed some of her cherry-colored hair out of her face and looked at Artyom plainly, the gears in her head and emotions turning and churning, processing everything going on within her to find the correct response. Or at least, that’s what Artyom thought. He wondered how quickly he could make it to the border to the Dark Lord’s fortress if he started running right now. Whatever army he had guarding the place couldn’t be as bad as being here.

Skeya closed her eyes and sighed, taking her time to finish collecting her thoughts. Eventually, she opened them again and looked directly at Artyom.

“It’s alright, I forgive you,” she said softly with a gentle smile. “Besides, if it weren’t for that, I never would’ve found Rocco here!” Her smile grew more confident as she slowly put an arm around the shoulder of the young man sitting beside her.

Artyom was hit with her absolving words as they brought waves of relief through his mind. He visibly sunk into his seat with a fulfilled sigh, a wonderful smile spread across his face.

“But why didn’t you say you were already in a relationship? It would’ve saved both of us a lot of trouble…” Skeya trailed off, looking at Neitra.

“Because we’re not in a relationship,” she replied in a huff. “Seriously, why does everyone think that?”

Skeya backed into her seat at the terseness of Neitra’s response, and Rocco placed his own arm around her shoulder in comfort.

“Sorry, Skeya,” said Neitra apologetically, having calmed down from her outburst. “But this has to be the fourth time today someone’s thought that. We’re not a couple, we’re just fellow party members, is all.”

“To be fair, you two really look like you’d make a good couple,” replied Rocco, the young man beside Skeya. He had a neutral baritone voice that matched his similarly plain clothes. “I’m Rocco, by the way, if it wasn’t already obvious. I’m a blacksmith’s apprentice.”

The young man extended his hand to both Neitra and Artyom, who each shook it with pleasant demeanors. Being the least knowledgeable out of everyone present when it came to Artyom, he decided to ask the next question.

“So, what brings you two to Ironheart Fortress of all places?”

“Oh, uh…” replied Sae, before either of the fugitive pair could respond.

“At least he can keep a secret, mostly,” thought Artyom before giving his actual reply. “We’re actually on a secret mission for the hero, and we’re technically not even supposed to be talking to you about this,” he whispered. If the rest of his old party knew about him joining with the Great Hero, then Skeya most certainly told her new boyfriend. Best to bring him into the loop of sworn secrecy as well.

“Secret mission? Really?” asked Skeya, eyes wide at what she was hearing. “I’ll make sure to pray for your success, then.”

“Actually,” interjected Artyom. “Would it be too much for you to not include me in your prayers for now?”

“What do you mean? If you’re working with the hero, then I’m sure the Goddess will do whatever she can to help you all succeed,” she replied, hesitantly.

“Oh, I know and completely agree with you,” lied Artyom. “It’s just that recently, I feel like I haven’t been living up to what the goddess wants out of me or her followers. I feel that this mission is a way to redeem myself in her eyes, by doing something without her help or intervention. To prove that I’m worthy on my own to serve her!”

What Artyom said could be considered a total crapshoot, but it was an educated one. The book at the library on the history of the goddess, as well as his own experiences with her direct servants, painted the picture of a vindictive, narcissistic monster rather than an actual benevolent goddess. Such that seeking redemption by oneself without her help would be found as reverent to her sensibilities, like an abusive partner demanding blood after a minor snub.

Skeya’s eyes widened again, and she nodded understandingly. “Oh, the pilgrimage! I know what you mean, and I’m sorry you have to go through with that.” She looked saddened. “But I know you can pull through, the Goddess never gives a challenge she knows you can’t accomplish. Sometimes it hurts when you can’t pray for the ones you care about, but I was taught to trust Her judgement. I’ll wish you good luck then,” she finished, a melancholic smile on her face.

“Thank you,” replied Artyom with a similar expression. And… jackpot. It looked like his educated guess paid off, and he’d somehow made it a hole-in-one. Even Neitra looked at him in surprise. It honestly scared him, but more so because of the fact that he was correct at all. What were the lives of these people like if they lived under a goddess like that? Happy enough apparently, but that was all probably part of her facade of kindness. For the first time at least, Artyom was thankful that he was up against such an awful enemy.

“So enough about me, how about you?” asked Artyom, changing the subject. “What have you been up to? Sae and Pireni here say you’ve been volunteering your time to heal people.”

The question was luckily enough to snap Skeya out of the funk Artyom put her in. “That’s right!” she exclaimed. “I’ve been spending my days off at the nearby church, healing anybody with minor injuries not enough to go to the hospital. Apparently, it’s really busy there and they only accept people who are really injured.”

Artyom nodded in response, listening intently.

“As a cleric of the Goddess, I really feel like I have a duty to help her followers. It’s what she would want.”

Artyom and Neitra nodded along with seemingly heavy hearts at the statement, knowing the goddess’ true nature. He could at least appreciate that her general message was at least a good one, even if just to keep up a front.

“In fact, one of those people happened to be Rocco!” she all but squeaked.

“Oh Skeya, do you have to tell the story?” asked the young man next to him, beginning to turn red in embarrassment.

She turned towards him with a pout, and he sighed in acquiescence. “She really loves telling this story,” he said, scratching the back of his head.

“And you agreed to let me tell the story if you wanted to go out with me! Don’t you remember that part?” she softly whined.

“Yeah, I do. Please just get it over with,” sighed Rocco.

“Alright, so Rocco here came in with a broken hand and asked me to heal it,” began Skeya, gesturing with her hands. “And I did, but then he was so enamored with me, he asked me out! Of course I wanted to say yes, but I was really curious about how he’d gotten that injury in the first place.”

“Oh, here we go,” whispered Rocco.

“And I thought it was because he was hammering some metal, but missed and hit his hand. But it turns out, there was a fly buzzing around the forge that was driving him nuts!”

“It kept buzzing around my face! How can anyone keep a rhythm on their hammer with a distraction like that?!”

“And then it landed on his hand. Rocco somehow forgot he was holding a hammer and tried to smack it, but ended up smashing his own hand instead!”

Everyone sitting at the table burst out into laughter at the poor man’s misfortune. The man in question let out a nervous giggle that was closer to a sigh.

“Hey, don’t worry about it, Rocco,” said Artyom, stretching his arm across the table to pat his shoulder. “We’ve all made stupid mistakes like that in the first place, I would know too.” He gazed over to the members of his old party.

“When you put it like that, it makes me feel a bit better,” he replied. “Especially since your mistake led me to finding this wonderful lady to be my girlfriend!”

Another round of laughter went up between the group. They continued making smalltalk, talking about small details about their lives and journeys in the past week. Much of it was gossip that Artyom and Neitra didn’t have the context to follow along with, but they didn’t mind this time. Being surrounded by such jovial companions helped to lift their spirits from the gloom the events earlier in the day put them in.

Eventually, an hour passed, and Skeya realized she had to return back to work.

“Sorry everyone,” she said shyly. “I have to get going now. But maybe we can all meet up again like this?” She looked at Artyom with a hopeful smile.

He looked back at her with his own jovial grin. “You know what? Yeah. I’d love to join you all next time you’re free. But for now, Neitra and I also have to get back to work.”

“That’s great!” exclaimed Sae. “You know when we’re free and where we work, feel free to drop by and collect us all whenever it’s convenient for you!”

“Sure,” said Artyom, as he turned around and began to walk away. “See you all later then.”

Skeya stood up from her seat and shouted after him. “And good luck on your pilgrimage! I know you can do it!”

Artyom wordlessly waved back, not bothering to turn around. He didn’t want them to see the melancholy in his smile in response to that statement.

“I hope that clears my name,” Artyom whispered to Neitra once they were sufficiently far enough away from the others.

“For me, yeah,” she replied warmly. “I hope it was also enough for you.”

“I think so too,” he replied, most of his previous dejection now gone. But beneath his smile, there was something else. No longer guilt, but something else as he came out of an old memory, even older than his time in this World. “So let’s get you that proof.”

After several hours of travel, the renegade duo visited the hometowns of each of the hero’s remaining party members. As the sun finally began to set, they completed their trip and arrived back in Ironheart Fortress, ready to wrap up for the day.

“I… I can’t believe it,” breathlessly stuttered Neitra. “You were right, they aren’t real. They aren’t real, Artyom!”

“I know,” he replied solemnly.

“I thought the lack of paperwork for Xerica was just a coincidence, or maybe a coverup so her enemies couldn’t learn more about her. Lensa being adopted made sense too, since she’s one of the goddess’ chosen companions and she’d want her to be raised in a way to best train her. But then with Daisy, there were no scars.”

Artyom nodded along. He was grateful that his enemies were confident enough to not bother fixing the holes in their backstories after he’d pointed most of them out.

“She’d supposedly beaten everyone there bloody on multiple occasions, but there wasn’t even a single scar!”

“I don’t see how they could’ve fixed that honestly, unless they went back there and gave everyone new scars. Even if they did, there’s no way they could’ve hid the next one.”

“And that was the worst,” she replied with a thousand yard stare. “Her parents are only 5 years older than her! She’s not adopted either! How is that even possible?!”

“They’re not real,” said Artyom with a frown.

“I know they’re not real,” she replied, voice quavering. “But how can they not be real? Where did they come from, and how do we fight against something like that?!”

“Well, they have physical bodies, right?”

“Yeah, what about it?”

“Bodies can be broken. We just have to hit them hard enough to do that.”

“I… guess we could. But can we? You said it yourself that they’re incredibly powerful, and I know they’re stronger than me. Do you really think we have what it takes to do that to them?”

“Well, I don’t know. That’s why we’re following up on every lead we have, including the riddle.”

“Oh yeah, the riddle. Any idea what the answer could be?”

“Not yet, but I’ll probably give it more thought before bed. I just hope we won’t actually need it, or that it’s not outdated. I mean, the old pantheon hasn’t been able to do anything in this World for 600 years because of the goddess, so who knows if solving it will actually do anything and if the weapon is still there?”

“Yeah,” said Neitra, looking down. “I just want it to pay off, though. Something about it really gives me hope, you know?”

“I understand. But it’s best to not put all of your eggs in a single basket, as they say. Hedge your bets, diversify your bonds, all that.”

“I don’t even know what that last one is, but I get what you’re saying. I’ll still keep hoping then.”

The duo made their way back to their hotel room, now additionally warded and laced with flashbangs, smoke grenades, and small explosives near the window to create a quick escape if necessary. After everything they’d been through, the two decided that they would rather deal with assassins than search for a new place to stay.

Back inside, as they lay in their respective beds, Artyom pondered the riddle. Too much of it dealt with domain-specific knowledge he didn’t have with him, but the rest could still be made some sense of. “The essence of ‘ought’ ” and “fulfilled by ‘shall’ ” in particular. People did what they “ought” to out of obligation, and “shall” referred to the act of doing something itself. The foundation that structure was built on? That sounded really weird, and could refer to all sorts of structures. Buildings, systems, society. The puzzle seemed pretty philosophical in nature, so Artyom could strike out the former.

He turned to the other side, his bed barely squeaking beneath him. Neitra audibly exhaled. Artyom was ready to let go of it and go to sleep, but something continued to pull at him. His mind went back to earlier that day as he recounted its events, from his confrontation with the sirens, to the two subsequent battles for his life, and the reunion with his old party. Something about the things his old friends said kept with him and wouldn’t leave his mind.

“We decided to continue doing whatever would help the most people against the Sworn Enemy since it’s what we ought to do,” said Sae.

“We just feel like we should give back, you know?” said Pireni.

“I really feel like I have a duty to help,” said Skeya.

It was there, the answer was right in front of him. Ought, should… duty. The answer to the riddle was duty! It fit perfectly. The good do what they ought to do, their duty towards society and the rest of humanity, and of course the wicked don’t do what they ought to. And before codified laws were really a thing, people did whatever duty was assigned to them. Farmers farmed, soldiers fought, leaders led. Speaking of leaders, they could assign duties to their charges, but if they asked them to do something insane like kill a bunch of babies, that would be against what anyone ought to do. So it can be assigned but still has a resolute form. So this was the true domain of Yama? Duty?

The surge of joy Artyom felt from figuring out the riddle quickly wore itself thin, and he soon began to fade into sleep, carried off by the sound of radio silence… finally broken.